James Haskell hits out at England team-mates after lacklustre RWC win

James Haskell tore into his England team-mates after a laboured 41-10 victory over Georgia, insisting: ‘We are letting ourselves down.’

James Haskell said England’s performance against Georgia was ‘not acceptable’ (Picture: Getty)

Manager Martin Johnson branded his team ‘sloppy’ despite scoring six tries against the spirited Georgians to claim a bonus-point victory that carries them back to the top of Pool B.

But Haskell went much further with a brutal attack on England’s failings.

‘People have got to start pointing some fingers and saying, “This is not acceptable”,’ said Haskell, who was pressed into action late after Nick Easter withdrew with a back injury.

‘Johnno is not happy, the coaches are not happy, the players need to look at themselves and realise they are not working as hard as they should be.

‘The days of brushing it under the carpet are gone. It has got to that stage, got that serious.

‘It starts with identifying individuals, areas we need to improve, who’s not working hard, who’s not trusting it [the system].

‘That will come out from our meetings. We will have some tough video sessions tomorrow or Tuesday. That’s how it should be.

‘You only get one chance at a World Cup, so faffing around is not the way forward.’

Johnson, who was seen fuming in the coach’s box as his side’s indiscipline let them down again â with 11 first-half penalties conceded â even warned England face an early exit unless there is an immediate improvement.

They led 17-10 at the interval thanks to two Shontayne Hape tries and then pulled away with second-half scores from Delon Armitage, Manu Tuilagi and two from Chris Ashton .

But Johnson said: ‘It is a simple game and at times we made it more difficult and it was sloppy. It just annoys me. I don’t want to be that type of team.

‘If I am happy with those standards then we will go home early, and if we are happy with those standards we will go home early.

‘The bigger the game you play, the more simple it is â maintain possession, don’t give away penalties, build pressure in all aspects of the game and you will give yourself a chance. We need to be rehearsing that.’

Winger Ashton injured his elbow in the act of scoring his second try, while prop Matt Stevens limped off with a twisted ankle but neither player believes their knock to be serious. Ashton also risked Johnson’s wrath with another trademark swallow dive for his first score.

And he admitted: ‘I don’t know if the management are too happy about the dive. It might not have been at the right time because the game was a bit messy. I’m glad to get that try and even more to get a second.

‘But I’m more bothered about winning and how we’re playing. We need to tighten up a bit.’